Bwindi’s communities, including the Batwa, have faced livelihood challenges since their eviction from the national park in 1991. The growing population, mainly in areas like Buhoma, heavily depend on wood fuel to meet their energy demands including cooking, heating and lighting, creating a significant risk to forest resources and endangering the conservation of mountain gorillas by destruction of their habitat and interfering with their migratory patterns . The depletion of forest cover for wood and logs also poses a long-term threat to biodiversity and local climate conditions.
In response to this challenge, the Environment Governance Institute (EGI), with support from IUCN Save Our Species, conducted a training for local communities surrounding Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The training focused on sustainable alternative energy practices that meet the energy needs of the communities while promoting habitat conservation for mountain gorillas, specifically, briquette production and marketing serve as an alternative to traditional wood fuel which has contributed to deforestation and encroachment on mountain gorilla habitats.
Briquettes are low cost, locally made fuel for cooking or heating. The briquettes are made from combustible, compressed carbonized materials, mainly from a combination of agricultural waste products and residue such as cassava, millet / rice / sorghum straws, maize cobs, groundnut husks, molasses among others.
By utilizing free and readily available waste material, briquettes help save trees from being cut down for charcoal production. They also lower costs of expenditure, allowing households to prioritize more on essential.
A group of participants practicing charcoal briquette making in Buhooma,Bwindi
The meeting attracted over 15 groups comprising of 55 women and 20 men drawn from the representation of Batwa dance groups, cultural leaders, reformed poachers and tourism associations from villages in the Buhoma Subcounty, which borders the park. These participants received hands-on training on sustainable briquette production, an eco-friendly alternative to wood fuel.
The briquettes are in a series of clean cooking materials especially in the developing countries. Quality briquettes burn without smoke and produce adequate energy for cooking. This in turn reduces the incidences of smoke related sickness for example; bronchitis, cough, flue, eye infections and lung cancer which are contracted from long exposure to smoke. The production and sale of briquettes also offers major income opportunities for entrepreneurs and participants in the supply chain, for example, In Uganda- Buganda Kingdom, cassava value chain is being enhanced by retooling urban youths and rural women skills to make quality briquettes which are dried using solar dryers, which are more efficient and effective than open sun-dryinging
In addition to getting communities trained, EGI also identified market avenues within the area so as to bring economic benefit for the local communities. This initiative not only seeks to reduce deforestation, but also creates alternative income streams for the local population, particularly, by targeting tourism lodges in the region as potential customers.
During the training ,one key participant, Ainembabazi Phiona, emphasized the potential for local communities to supply tourism lodges with briquettes, which could reduce the need for illegal park resource exploitation and hunting, activities that endanger the slowly reproducing gorilla species.
A woman representative in Buhooma sharing insights on the potential for locals to supply briquettes to community tourism lodges.
Additionally, one of the reformed poachers expressed his optimism that selling briquettes at competitive prices could offer better financial returns than selling firewood. thus, helping to transform the local economy while preserving the environment. The women groups who had relied so much on firewood business for long as an income source faced multiple challenges including; indoor air pollution, difficulties in gathering the firewood, risk of animal attacks, and legal issues.
To further promote the use of briquette and generate a sustainable market, the communities were trained on the use of fuel-efficient stoves, which are designed to reduce the use of wood fuel and protect the forest from illegal encroachment. As part of the training, a performance test was conducted to determine the quantity of briquettes that can replace wood fuel. On a theoretical basis using calorific values, it is estimated that 0.7kg of briquettes at 9% moisture can replace 1kg of wood at 30% moisture. Therefore, on a cost-saving basis, briquettes can achieve a 15% reduction in fuel expenditure compared to wood sourced from timber and grass.
According to Edson Mugenyi ,a renown briquette champion in Buhoma a basin of briquettes sold to Tourist camps and lodges costs Ush 25,000 compared to a full sack of charcoal consisting of 4 full basins costing Ush 50,000. This presents an economic benefit to communities to sell more briquettes generated from wastes ultimately reducing pressure on Gorilla habitats.
Research shows that in orderto cook a meal for 15 people , one needs 3kg of briquettes as compared to the would be 10kg of fire wood. As well, in a simple, manually operated briquette press, a person can produce an average number of 50 briquettes per day (weighting 3 kg each after drying) as compared to firewood collectors who cover about 8 to 12 km and spend 4 to 6 hours daily to gather firewood. which exposes the girl child to a number of risks as a result of traveling long distances and especially making them vulnerable to assault.
In conclusion, the trainings registered over 75 people of which 25 were women who largely relied on firewood selling businesses. The trainings enabled these households to each sell at least in packages of 1 to 3kgs. In a bid to ensure energy sustainability, the trainings are intended to improve local economic value, control indoor air pollution, safeguard the health of women and girls and reducing pressure on gorilla habitats. In other words, this enhances gorilla conservation for crucial national interests.
This publication was written by Joy Nabulo – Communications officer
This publication was produced with the financial support of IUCN Save Our Species. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Environment Governance Institute and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN
